Spain

The queen who had to attend her wedding reception in a blood spattered gown

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22nd September 2023
A century ago, the woman who reigned as Spanish consort had more than her fair share of problems. She was Victoria Eugenie, known as Ena, and her first day as a queen began in a terrifying manner. Ena perhaps realized the turbulence ahead of her just minutes after her wedding. She walked into the Royal Monastery of San Jeronimo in Madrid on May 21st 1906 as a princess and left as a queen having…
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Features

How many of Henry VIII's queens were crowned?

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22nd September 2023
‘Divorced, beheaded, died; divorced, beheaded, survived.’ That sad little rhyme, summing up the fates of Henry VIII’s six wives, is familiar to many. But while just about everyone knows that the monarch with a thing for wedding cake said ‘I do&#8217…
Features

Mary of Waltham, a tragic teenage royal bride

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22nd September 2023
On an autumn day, in 1344, a little girl was born to a famous king and queen. She entered the expected role of a royal daughter from birth as her future husband, an important political ally, was already living in the regal nursery she would call home. This royal baby spent her life preparing to marry and make an alliance that would strengthen her father’s power and she is best known to history…
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British Royals

King Charles makes surprising gesture to crowds at start of State Visit to France

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20th September 2023
King Charles surprised the thousands who had come to see him at the start of his State Visit to France with an unexpected move on the Champs Elysees. As The King was driven along the famous Parisian street in an official car along with President Emmanuel Macron, the two men made an executive decision that got a good response. As the car continued to move, they stood up and made use of the…
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Greece

A romantic royal wedding that led to a partnership that survived the fall of a crown and exile

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18th September 2023
It was a marriage that sealed a famous love story and turned a princess into a queen. On September 18th 1964, royalty from across Europe gathered in Athens to see the continent’s newest monarch wed a bride who had just turned eighteen. Constantine II of Greece and Anne-Marie of Denmark’s romance went on to weather political crises and exile and endured until his death in early 2023. And it had…
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